Earlier today, I had the honor of taking a veteran to their final resting place….three quarters of the way accross the state to Florence, South Carolina.
Most of you do not see the Confederate flag being flown everyday….
A graveside funeral service turned into an adventure as I explored the oldest business in the city… Mt. Hope Cemetery.
One of the prettiest cemeteries I have ever visited, (and there have been a few I have trod over during the last thirty six years) I was immediately captivated by it.
One of my colleagues mentioned that his grandparents were buried there and there was a special marker, shaped like the state of South Carolina that I needed to see.
The Aiken family plot…the outline of the State of SC is etched into that granite…including the mountains and waves in the ocean.
Of course, we left early and there was no traffic this morning, so we arrived way ahead of schedule and had time to explore and see the graves of some of Florence’s most famous names.
The grounds guys pointed out the monument, just a few hundred feet away from our site. They also mentioned and showed us to the monument of the famous Melvin Purvis. 
We ended up spending three hours on the grounds and could not have asked for better hosts. Jim & Sarah Mosley and their staff treated us like family…and made a great, first impression on this old undertaker.
Members of the Charleston AFB Honor Guard stand by before the service begins.
A Simple, Village Undertaker 